Triple Date Trouble
by tetsu-girl
Summary: Jaime/Traci 13, Brenda/Paco, & Tye/Asami go on a triple date. They eat, play, joke about shipping, & fight giant villains. You know, normal teen superhero stuff. (Set mostly in Jaime's 2006 series but incorporates some plots/characters from the Young Justice cartoon for fun.)
A/N: AU that's half _Blue Beetle_ comics (Paco, Brenda, Traci, Milagro) and half _Young Justice_ (Tye, Asami, Bart, Cassie). I really miss Jaime's 2006 series. He and his whole family and supporting cast are so much more awesome and adorkable in the comics.

~~~Enjoy~~~

Jaime had reservations. Not for a restaurant. They were just going to their regular fast food hang-out El Diablo. No, he had reservations about mixing his civilian life with his hero life (er, even more); about going out with Traci on a "triple date" with fellow "power couple" Tye and Asami as well as non-powered-but-equally-bad-ass Paco and Brenda; and especially about letting his best friends tell his girlfriend embarrassing stories about him. But so far, the date had been fun. They had made it through a whole movie without an interruption from a giant robot, a giant villainess, or a giant naked guy. That was a win in Jaime's book. Now if they could just get through dinner without a demonic attack or the devastating exposure of Jaime's dorkiness.

"So," Paco said as soon as they all sat down at their table, "guess what BluePulse is."

"Oh, here we go," Brenda sighed.

"Uh, a new band?" asked Tye.

"No."

"Sports drink?" Traci guessed.

"Try again."

"It's a ship name," Brenda answered. "As in fandom couple shipping."

"Dude," Paco frowned at her.

"What?" she shrugged. "You've been waiting all night to bring it up, haven't you?"

"Couldn't get out of the theater fast enough, but still…"

"So which fandom?" asked Traci, while Tye attempted to explain shipping to Asami. "TV show, movie, book?"

The gleam returned to Paco's eyes. "None of the above. Real life!" He grinned at Jaime.

"Don't look at me," said Jaime. "I've never heard of–huh?" He stopped as Khaji Da spoke up in his head. The others waited patiently, used to his sporadic, seemingly one-sided conversations with the Scarab voice only he could hear.

 _[Accessing Google…]_

 _[Searching "bluepulse" + "ship"…]_

 _[Result: BluePulse = Blue Beetle + Impulse; couple]_

"What?!" Jaime exclaimed, making the others jump a bit. "You mean, me and-and-"

"Yes! The popular, the precious, Blue Beetle and Impulse ship!" Paco shouted gleefully. He, Tye, Asami, and Traci all burst out laughing. Jaime did not.

"Who's saying–How–Where did that even come from?" he asked, flabbergasted.

"Probably this!" Paco pulled out his phone and showed photos of Blue Beetle carrying Impulse piggy-back and bridal style and of Impulse hugging and back-hugging Beetle. Some of them were accompanied by drawn hearts or cheesy captions. Jaime was speechless while the others laughed some more.

"Jaime," Traci smirked and looked sideways at him, "is there something I should know about your weekends with the Titans?"

"What? Of course not!" Jaime sputtered. "Impulse is just one of my friends on the Team. A kind of clingy friend who I sometimes have to carry when he gets himself knocked out by rushing into missions without thinking because he's, well, impulsive? I mean, there's absolutely nothing wrong with being gay, I mean, LGBT, but I'm just, you know, not."

"Relax!" Traci chuckled. "I'm just teasing." She nudged his shoulder. Jaime smiled back weakly.

"I've seen some really weird stuff in the past year, but this has got to be the weirdest thing about being a superhero. Strangers on the web starting fansites, writing stories, and making art, and not just about me, but me in a fantasy relationship." He shook his head in bewilderment. "Wait, why did they assume I'm with him? Why not a gi-?"

"Me?" Paco interrupted. "I know, right? If anyone's gonna be slash-paired with you, it should be me, his awesome, butt-kicking, handsome best friend!" Everyone's eyebrows shot up.

"Secret identity, Paco," Brenda reminded him. "If they don't know who Beetle is, and they have no idea who you are, how could they ship you and Jaime?" She seemed completely unfazed by the fact that her boyfriend was jealous over their mutual friend's "love interest."

"Yeah, you can't pair Jaime with a non-powered civilian." Tye said. "Obviously, Beetle should be shipped with Longshadow, his fellow El Paso superhero and oldest best friend."

"Hey, I don't need no stinkin' powers. I'm like Robin. With an alien-beating Big Stick," Paco countered. "And I was friends with Jaime first."

"No, I was."

"Actually, I was," Brenda corrected.

"I just met Jaime eight months ago," Traci chimed in, unhelpfully, barely suppressing her laughter. Jaime couldn't believe they were even having this bizarre conversation.

"Are you guys really arguing over who gets to be my internet boyfriend?" he asked a little too loudly, causing a nearby waitress to giggle. He winced and ducked his head.

"Yes," they answered.

"Both," suggested Asami.

"We have very strange friends," observed Brenda with a grin.

"And boyfriends," Traci replied with a wink.

Jaime sighed. "Here's an idea; let's talk about any other subject in the world."

"You have to admit, the fanart is pretty good." Brenda had gone back to flipping through Paco's BluePulse slideshow.

"BluePulse kawaii," Asami said. "Ah, suteki~"

"She says you two make a cute couple and she likes this painting of you and Impulse making out on the beach," Tye snickered.

Jaime groaned. "Ugh, guys, please stop." He literally face-palmed.

"Okay, okay, no more making fun of Jaime's speedbuggy love." Paco put his phone back in his pocket.

Jaime rolled his eyes. "Thank you!"

"But wait, there's more!" Paco exclaimed in his fake announcer voice. He whipped out his phone again. "Introducing WonderBeetle!"

"What?" everyone shouted. Everyone except Asami, who said, "Sumimasen?"

Jaime knew this "triple date" was a bad idea. Somewhere between burgers and burritos, the topic of Blue Beetle's online fandom shipping came up and just would not die.

"WonderBeetle!" Paco repeated. "See, Jaime, not everyone thinks you're gay!" He held up his phone, which displayed a series of snapshots of Blue Beetle and Wonder Girl in close proximity.

"Man, how are people taking these pictures?" Jaime wanted to know. "The Team's missions are supposed to be covert!"

 _[Correction: 96% of Team missions begin as covert. Only 38% end as covert.]_

"Dude, you guys blew up a building in this pic," Tye pointed out.

"And here, you're fighting Black Manta in a very public beach in Happy Harbor," Brenda added.

Jaime reached across the table to grab the phone, but Paco pulled away with a showy evil laugh.

"Fine, whatever. People can think what they want. I won't let it bother me," Jaime decided and went back to his fries.

But as they scrolled through more pictures, Jaime grew increasingly uncomfortable. The awkward poses and holds were similar to the BluePulse "evidence" with Bart, but the photos looked particularly comprising with Cassie because she was, admittedly, a very friendly, athletic, and pretty girl. Traci looked slightly less amused this time.

Finally, Jaime let out a frustrated sigh. "Look, members of the Team are always carrying each other to safety or giving cover or whatever. Traci, you're in the hero business; you know how rescue missions go." He pleaded with his eyes.

Traci seemed to take pity on her frazzled boyfriend and smiled reassuringly. "Of course, babe. Physical contact is just a part of the job," she said to the others. "A regular occurrence."

"Uh, so it's normal in the hero biz to get a kiss from Wonder Girl?" Paco "innocently" asked.

"What?" Traci snapped and grabbed the phone. Jaime's jaw dropped when he saw a close-up of Cassie kissing him on the cheek. Traci turned sharply to him, and Jaime could have sworn he felt a crackle in the air.

 _[Warning: Rapid increase in Quantum Probability Energy detected. Threat level: High.]_

Tye let out a "whoa," and Asami an "uh oh." Brenda glared accusingly at Paco and Jaime in turns.

"Jaime," Traci's voice was as icy as her stare. "Are you sure there's nothing you want to tell me?" She was more frightening than Eclipso.

"I–She–It was just a little "thank you for saving my life" peck on the cheek!" Jaime tried to explain. Traci's eyes narrowed. "Actually," Jaime continued, "now that I think about it, it kind of is a regular occurrence on the Team. Wonder Girl has kissed Arsenal, Beast Boy, and Robin on the cheek, too."

"Ha, nice! Go, Wonder Girl!" cheered Brenda.

"Jaime, do I have to fight Wonder Flirt for you?" Traci threatened. "Because even though I believe in sisterhood, especially among magical girls, I so will." Out of nowhere, her Staff of Arion appeared in her hand. Jaime was thoroughly alarmed…and maybe slightly turned on, but mostly alarmed.

"No! No no. Cassie is-"

"Cassie?" Traci arched an eyebrow.

Jaime took a deep breath. "Yes, we're on a first-name basis. No, it's not a big deal. Most of the Team are." Jaime added quickly. "Look, Cassie really helped me out when I first started on the Team. I was the 'schizo' rookie who had no idea how to fight with other superheroes. I was overwhelmed by the Justice League and freaked out by all the Major League Villains. She and Bart–Impulse–were my first friends on the Team, and I really needed that, you know?" He looked around, and his friends nodded in understanding, no longer mad, worried, or in Paco's case, snickering.

"Oh, and she's not a flirt," he said to Traci. "She's just a very nice and, um, _enthusiastic_ team mate and _friend_ ," he emphasized again. "And not that it matters since I'm already taken, but Wonder Girl is dating Robin."

For a few seconds there was stunned silence until Brenda started chuckling.

"Sorry, it's just… Can you imagine going over to your boyfriend's place and running into the freakin' Batman?" The tension broke, and everyone laughed.

"Forget Batman. What about Wonder Woman?" Paco looked legitimately terrified. "She'd totally give you a whupping if and when you do something stupid and upset your Amazon girlfriend, who can also snap you like a twig. Now that's intimidating!"

While the others discussed who would win in a fight, Batman or Wonder Woman, Jaime turned to Traci.

"You know there's nothing going on with me and Cassie or anyone else, right?" He tried to show a half-apologetic, half-affectionate smile.

She looked into his face for a moment, then her expression softened. "I know," she said, returning a small smile. Her Staff disappeared in a puff of smoke when Jaime reached under the table and took her hand.

"Because clearly I'm not brave or stupid enough to face a vengeful Wonder Woman," Jaime said, only half-joking.

Traci smirked. "Clearly. Though to be fair, I don't think you want to anger my father or my Super-girlfriends either."

"More importantly," Jaime said, serious again. "I already have the most awesome girlfriend ever. I don't need or want anyone else." He leaned in and kissed her. He hoped his actions spoke louder than his lame words. When she kissed back, he guessed that she got the message.

Their moment was interrupted by Paco's "Ow!" as Brenda smacked the back of his head. He had the decency to look a little ashamed as he _finally_ put the phone away.

"Heh, sorry, Jaime, Traci. Didn't mean to cause trouble in paradise. Just poking fun at my buddy," ("as usual" Jaime, Brenda, and Tye said). "We all know Jaime would never be a jerkface like that. He's such a good guy. A gentleman, even." He spoke directly to Traci now, in an attempt to make up for his antics, Jaime knew. "A cute, sensitive, funny, smart, heroic gentleman, who really, really cares about his super cool and powerful girlfriend."

Traci laughed, looked at Jaime, squeezed his hand, and said, "Yeah, he is." Jaime squeezed back and let out a sigh of relief. Crisis averted.

And then a giant robot attacked El Paso.

After Jaime, Traci, Brenda, Paco, Asami, and Tye defeated the giant robot and saved the civilians, they hung around the now-deserted park. They took out their skateboards from the trunk of Paco's car–while Traci summoned her roller blades from home–and they rolled, raced, zipped, and flipped around the ramps, whooping and laughing. Jaime couldn't remember the last time he had this much fun.

Eventually, they wandered over to the playground. No one admitted it, but they missed it. They were too old to play there without looking like bullies scaring the little kids away. It was nice to revisit their childhood without getting dirty looks from the parents.

Paco was spinning Brenda on the merry-go-round when out of the blue, he asked, "Hey, Brenda, what's our ship called?"

Brenda snorted. "I don't know. Just Brenda/Paco? Brenco sounds like a conglomerate. Panda? Nah, too cutesy."

"No, I got it!" Paco stopped Brenda in front of him and waved his hands dramatically in the air, presenting, "Paco Bella! Get it?"

Brenda scrunched up her face. "Ew. I don't know which is worse, being associated with Taco Bell or _Twilight_. And why do you get to include your name, but I don't?" She put her hands on her hips, and Paco deflated.

"Okay, fine. We'll come back to it."

"Do we have to?" she sighed, rolling her eyes but smiling slightly.

"Yes," like it was essential. "But in the meantime, I've come up with the perfect name for Jaime and Traci!"

Jaime, who was on the swings with Traci, had been listening to the exchange with amusement but now yelled, "Hey, don't drag me into this ship business again."

"No, this is good, I promise. Jaime and Traci are–drumroll please," he paused to rapidly beat the bars, "–Hi-C!"

He beamed up, while Jaime gave him a skeptical look and Traci laughed delightedly.

"Is that the fruit punch box drink that Milagro likes?" she asked.

"Yeah." Paco continued to look so proud of himself.

"But what does that have to do with me and Traci?"

"Well, nothing, really, but it's a perfect portmanteau of your two names."

Brenda raised her eye brows.

"What? I know words, too."

"Well, I like it," Traci said, taking Jaime's hand and pulling him along as she continued swinging. "To ' _C_ ' you is definitely the ' _HI_ '-light of my day."

Jaime groaned and chuckled with her. "Right back at you, babe."

"Ha, I'm a genius," Paco crowed.

"But it's not gonna catch on. No one can use it except us," Brenda pointed out. "They need a superhero couple name, like Blue 13."

"Huh. That's not bad," Jaime mused. "Sounds like the name of a computer chip or a love potion," he joked.

"The perfect mix of tech and magic," Traci added. "Just like us." She winked at Jaime, and he smiled back.

"Yeah." They held hands as they swung in tandem and laughed the night away with their friends.

It was the best triple date ever.

~~~The End~~~

A/N: Thank you for reading! :D


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